Building a hot vintage engine with Jonny69
- Thread starter Jonny69
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so lazy 
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You can buy a little tool that goes in the drill that spins the valve back and forth. To quote someone off another forum "took a while to get the hang of.. kind of reminded me of being on a water bed with a fat lass.... lots of wobbling about and not quite sure when its all going to end up on the floor..." 
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Started the engine assembly this weekend. Didn't get much time as usual and having not spent much time on it recently (and a bit too much red wine the night before) I wasn't sure where to start. I decided since I got the shaft free in the spare dizzy a nice simple check and rebuild would be nice.
One dizzy:
Inside was pretty grotty on this one so I decided to swap some parts from the other one which I broke the case. To my utter disbelief all the screws came undone without mashing up or snapping. Testament to my use of penetrating oil? Maybe. Act of god? More likely
Under that plate is the advance mechanism, some spring loaded weights and it was all grotty so that's why the shaft was tight. The screw in the top of the shaft (in the breaker points cam) releases all of that:
One dizzy:
Inside was pretty grotty on this one so I decided to swap some parts from the other one which I broke the case. To my utter disbelief all the screws came undone without mashing up or snapping. Testament to my use of penetrating oil? Maybe. Act of god? More likely
Under that plate is the advance mechanism, some spring loaded weights and it was all grotty so that's why the shaft was tight. The screw in the top of the shaft (in the breaker points cam) releases all of that:
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I replaced those ones with the nice clean weights and cam out the broken dizzy and gave them a liberal dose of grease. Everything moves nice and freely now and *result* because the shaft is less worn in this dizzy than the broken one:
Topped them off with the shinier plate and my new set of points:
No adjustment needed - I love points! Note how I mark the cap with my plug numbers with a bit of white paint, actually it's a tippex pen but it makes working on the plugs and leads so much easier:
Next on the list is the mechanical fuel pump:
Topped them off with the shinier plate and my new set of points:
No adjustment needed - I love points! Note how I mark the cap with my plug numbers with a bit of white paint, actually it's a tippex pen but it makes working on the plugs and leads so much easier:
Next on the list is the mechanical fuel pump:
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I've had a bit of trouble with it because the diaphragm is perished and out of shape so it doesn't pump very strongly. Basically I've got crap in the tank and though I've cleaned out the bulk of it I can't get that last little bit out so I'm relying on the filter to do the rest of the work. Because the pump is weak it only needs a little bit in the filter and the fuel flow stops so I bought a refurb kit which should solve that:
So there's a set of gaskets and seals, new diaphragm and a new set of valves. Naturally I ordered the wrong one so the valves are the wrong ones but no matter because it was really the diaphragm causing my problems. See here:
So I cleaned up and checked the valves, all ok and once reassembled I could instantly feel a more positive movement on the crank and much more suck and blow than before.
My hangover had cleared by this point so it was onto the heavy stuff. I mucked about with the cam and tappets but the crank goes in first. Block upside down:
I should point out here that cleanliness is very very very important when you are reassembling any engine, especially when it doesn't have an oil filter like this one. I used a fresh t-shirt as an oily rag so I didn't transfer any grit or muck off my other one. Have a little container with some fresh oil and a clean 1/2" brush to apply oil to the parts you are assembling.
Oil the bearings and place the crank carefully into position. Then on go the bearing caps in the same position and the same way round you took them off. I didn't know the correct torque but it helps if they are all the same so I did the nuts up to 50lbs, checked everything moved freely and pinned them:
So there's a set of gaskets and seals, new diaphragm and a new set of valves. Naturally I ordered the wrong one so the valves are the wrong ones but no matter because it was really the diaphragm causing my problems. See here:
So I cleaned up and checked the valves, all ok and once reassembled I could instantly feel a more positive movement on the crank and much more suck and blow than before.
My hangover had cleared by this point so it was onto the heavy stuff. I mucked about with the cam and tappets but the crank goes in first. Block upside down:
I should point out here that cleanliness is very very very important when you are reassembling any engine, especially when it doesn't have an oil filter like this one. I used a fresh t-shirt as an oily rag so I didn't transfer any grit or muck off my other one. Have a little container with some fresh oil and a clean 1/2" brush to apply oil to the parts you are assembling.
Oil the bearings and place the crank carefully into position. Then on go the bearing caps in the same position and the same way round you took them off. I didn't know the correct torque but it helps if they are all the same so I did the nuts up to 50lbs, checked everything moved freely and pinned them:
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The pistons go in next. They don't just slide in because the rings expand and it's difficult to work them in so you use a ring compressor tool that pulls them closed while you knock the piston into the bore. Oil up the rings really well and tighten the piston into the ring compressor:
The bottom of the piston slides in and the ring compressor sits at the chamfer at the top of the bore...
...then you carefully tap the piston in with something soft, here I've used the rubber handle on the end of my mighty clubhammer:
Once it's in the bore you can slide it down and line it up on the big end on the crank:
Don't forget to oil it all up really well and make sure the big end caps go back on the right conrod and the same way round they came off:
Again I didn't know the correct torque but I did these up to 35lbs and checked it all still moved freely. I'll be doing the valve train on my next exciting instalment, in the meantime it's all covered carefully so no dirt gets in while I'm away.
The bottom of the piston slides in and the ring compressor sits at the chamfer at the top of the bore...
...then you carefully tap the piston in with something soft, here I've used the rubber handle on the end of my mighty clubhammer:
Once it's in the bore you can slide it down and line it up on the big end on the crank:
Don't forget to oil it all up really well and make sure the big end caps go back on the right conrod and the same way round they came off:
Again I didn't know the correct torque but I did these up to 35lbs and checked it all still moved freely. I'll be doing the valve train on my next exciting instalment, in the meantime it's all covered carefully so no dirt gets in while I'm away.
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Just did a visual check because the engine ran nice and smoothly before I stripped it with no noises or vibrations, all the trouble was with the top end. There are shell bearings in the crank which I don't think are original and they don't show much sign of wear so maybe it was rebuilt at one point, plus there's no play and it moves with about the amount of resistance I would expect so I think all is ok.[huzeeee] said:What a big stroke you have thereProgress look fun atm, i love getting the bulk of the engine made, its really satisfying. If you dont mind me asking, did you measure the crank journals to check if they are within the tolerances? Or is the engine that old that no tolerances exist anymore?
Yeah the stroke is quite comical, apparently safe up to 7000rpm!!!
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Lol
Tonight managed to get the cam in and the new timing chain on. Couldn't shift the gear off the crank as it's stuck fast on the key but with a bit of shimmying and wriggling it went on in the right position. The new chain is very tight compared to the old one so this should pull the timing in nicely.
Popped the front cover back on with new gaskets and some gasket goo just to make sure. It was too much for me though and I ended up dialling in the distributor drive, fitting the oil pump and then onto the sump. Was meaning to take pictures but my extreme motovation got the better of me (and I'd have had to pack everything up to go up to the flat to get it
)
Damn it's getting heavy now too.
Later in the week I'll be doing the valve clearances and some final checks before I pop the head back on, then it's back in the car and fire up time!
Tonight managed to get the cam in and the new timing chain on. Couldn't shift the gear off the crank as it's stuck fast on the key but with a bit of shimmying and wriggling it went on in the right position. The new chain is very tight compared to the old one so this should pull the timing in nicely.
Popped the front cover back on with new gaskets and some gasket goo just to make sure. It was too much for me though and I ended up dialling in the distributor drive, fitting the oil pump and then onto the sump. Was meaning to take pictures but my extreme motovation got the better of me (and I'd have had to pack everything up to go up to the flat to get it
)Damn it's getting heavy now too.
Later in the week I'll be doing the valve clearances and some final checks before I pop the head back on, then it's back in the car and fire up time!
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Remembered the camera this time so on with the valve assembly. Before I put the valves in I want to scrape off the debris that forms on them. It's a kind of carbon build up but there was quite a lot on some of the valves. I used the Dremel at first but it didn't cut through it so moved onto a blunt chisel that got through the scale but didn't cut the valve:
The adjustment for the tappet is here on the top. This is shown with the cam lobe up, when it's down this is all down the hole:
Getting the new spring in is a bit awkward. They are longer than the originals and a lot stiffer so I reckon the stock springs could be forced in by hand. Not these. With the valve up I hooked the end of the spring over the bottom of the stem and over the valve guide. The spring holds that in place too:
Then I get the cup on the bottom of the spring compressor round the bottom of the spring and with all my strength yank the spring up into place. This is a sitting on the floor job with the engine clamped between your legs and your arms round it:
The adjustment for the tappet is here on the top. This is shown with the cam lobe up, when it's down this is all down the hole:
Getting the new spring in is a bit awkward. They are longer than the originals and a lot stiffer so I reckon the stock springs could be forced in by hand. Not these. With the valve up I hooked the end of the spring over the bottom of the stem and over the valve guide. The spring holds that in place too:
Then I get the cup on the bottom of the spring compressor round the bottom of the spring and with all my strength yank the spring up into place. This is a sitting on the floor job with the engine clamped between your legs and your arms round it:
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Then to get the spring cup on the bottom of the valve it's a matter of jam the compressor between two bottom coils and compress the spring as normal so I can slot the cup in
I tried loads of ways to try and do the valve clearances. The problem is in the valve closed position the securing nut on the adjuster is buried down the tappet bore. The other problem is the nuts are very thin and all my spanners were too thick to get in there. The only way I could see round this was to modify a couple of spanners. Got the grinder out and minimised them a bit.
Before:
After:
This was better but to tighten them up full the valve needs to be in the open position and then the hole through the tappet is out of reach so I can't stop it turning in the bore. After much head scratching the only way round this I could think of was to set all the tappets with zero gap, then take all the valves back out so I can measure the length and subtract the gap. Then it's a matter of tightening it up at the adjusted length outside of the engine then re-assembling. I did one of them but it was getting late and a valve spring pinged down onto my thumbnail so I called it a night before I got too hurt.
I tried loads of ways to try and do the valve clearances. The problem is in the valve closed position the securing nut on the adjuster is buried down the tappet bore. The other problem is the nuts are very thin and all my spanners were too thick to get in there. The only way I could see round this was to modify a couple of spanners. Got the grinder out and minimised them a bit.
Before:
After:
This was better but to tighten them up full the valve needs to be in the open position and then the hole through the tappet is out of reach so I can't stop it turning in the bore. After much head scratching the only way round this I could think of was to set all the tappets with zero gap, then take all the valves back out so I can measure the length and subtract the gap. Then it's a matter of tightening it up at the adjusted length outside of the engine then re-assembling. I did one of them but it was getting late and a valve spring pinged down onto my thumbnail so I called it a night before I got too hurt.
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An older engine builder gave me a tip - drill some holes in the tappet bores so that you can pin the tappet. Then the clearances can be done in situ.
It's actually a really good idea except I don't have a drill capable of getting through it
It's actually a really good idea except I don't have a drill capable of getting through it
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That's what I was trying to do but when the tappet is up there's no way to hold it to stop it turning.
On the Kent crossflow the adjuster on the rocker arm is an interference fit thread. This would be ideal because I can hold the tappet when it's down, but as it is I can't tighten the nut when it's down.
Either way it's easier than having to grind the valve stem but still a pig of a job
On the Kent crossflow the adjuster on the rocker arm is an interference fit thread. This would be ideal because I can hold the tappet when it's down, but as it is I can't tighten the nut when it's down.
Either way it's easier than having to grind the valve stem but still a pig of a job
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This is the final installment of my engine build and I will take you through some final checks and how NOT to fit an engine to a car.
Late Saturday after shopping etc I found a handy dodge doing the valve clearances. I took the valve springs back out and figured that the best way would be to stop there and do the clearances by pushing down on the tops of the valves. Then I could just poke the tappets up and adjust:
Then check with a feeler gauge and adjust again if necessary:
Basically I adjusted these tight to the lowest gap I could get away with, a tight 12 thou. The reasoning behind this is there's going to be a little wear at first as the cam and tappets bed in and because this is going to be a very tricky job once the engine is in the car I hope the total wear won't exceed the maximum gap of 15 thou. With a bit of luck it'll settle somewhere in between.
I'll skip most of the assembly because it's all nuts, bolts, gaskets and rope seals but to make life easier putting the engine in you can use a clutch centering tool. I don't know how you spell centering in real English. This lines up the clutch with the bearing in the back of the crank or flywheel and when you're trying to line up the splines on the gearbox shaft if the clutch is in line with everything it will slide on a lot easier. It's basically a ground shaft with a pair of tapers and you pick the two sizes to suit the crank and clutch spline inside diameters:
I've used a 100E clutch friction plate as it has springs in it and appeared to be identical dimensionally. The Pop one is solid and is a bit rough taking up drive. This used one on my spare 100E engine has plenty of meat on it and no scoring so I scuffed it up a bit and on it went.
Sunday I had reserved as engine fitting day. First I had to run through a few last minute double-checks just in case anything was going to go wrong.
First a dry turn of the engine to check everything is clear. I put some blu-tack on the the tops of the valves:
On goes the head without the headgasket, secured by a few studs and nuts:
Late Saturday after shopping etc I found a handy dodge doing the valve clearances. I took the valve springs back out and figured that the best way would be to stop there and do the clearances by pushing down on the tops of the valves. Then I could just poke the tappets up and adjust:
Then check with a feeler gauge and adjust again if necessary:
Basically I adjusted these tight to the lowest gap I could get away with, a tight 12 thou. The reasoning behind this is there's going to be a little wear at first as the cam and tappets bed in and because this is going to be a very tricky job once the engine is in the car I hope the total wear won't exceed the maximum gap of 15 thou. With a bit of luck it'll settle somewhere in between.
I'll skip most of the assembly because it's all nuts, bolts, gaskets and rope seals but to make life easier putting the engine in you can use a clutch centering tool. I don't know how you spell centering in real English. This lines up the clutch with the bearing in the back of the crank or flywheel and when you're trying to line up the splines on the gearbox shaft if the clutch is in line with everything it will slide on a lot easier. It's basically a ground shaft with a pair of tapers and you pick the two sizes to suit the crank and clutch spline inside diameters:
I've used a 100E clutch friction plate as it has springs in it and appeared to be identical dimensionally. The Pop one is solid and is a bit rough taking up drive. This used one on my spare 100E engine has plenty of meat on it and no scoring so I scuffed it up a bit and on it went.
Sunday I had reserved as engine fitting day. First I had to run through a few last minute double-checks just in case anything was going to go wrong.
First a dry turn of the engine to check everything is clear. I put some blu-tack on the the tops of the valves:
On goes the head without the headgasket, secured by a few studs and nuts:
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In with the spark plugs and turn the engine over a couple of times by hand. Then take the head off and see how thick the blu-tack is on top of the valve. Mine is just under 1mm, exactly as calculated. I could probably go closer if I wanted because the thickness of the headgasket will raise the head further but I don't know how much valve bounce this engine suffers from, even with the uprated springs, so better to be on the safe side...
Later it's time to fit the engine. Here's NOT how to do it. Don't do this by yourself if you can help it becuase it's so much easier with two people and don't attempt this without an engine crane. Engines are heavy, this one is about 85Kg, and as I found out I don't make a very good engine crane.
I put two luggage straps round the engine, deadlifted it onto the crossmember, then got up onto the chassis rails and deadlifted it onto a trolley jack:
The it's a matter of wriggling it onto the splines on the gearbox shaft and sliding it into place. A hard job with no crane. I postitioned it close and I could feel it was on on the splines so I used a couple of long bolts in the back as guides while I shoved it on and used the bolts to nip it onto the dowels:
Then it's on with the head:
And finally it's in place and nearly everything back on:
I knocked it all on the head at 11:30pm on Sunday, didn't quite get it ready to fire up unfortunately. However there's always Monday night after work...
Did I mention IT RUNS!!!
Get in.
You'll be wanting some videos:
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/pop/videos/21-08-07_0806.3gp
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/pop/videos/21-08-07_0807.3gp
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/pop/videos/21-08-07_0810.3gp
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/pop/videos/21-08-07_0811.3gp
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/pop/videos/21-08-07_0814.3gp
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/pop/videos/21-08-07_0818.3gp
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/pop/videos/21-08-07_0832.3gp
Had it up to about 65 on the way into work this morning. It's exceeded my expectations and there's only more to come with the twin carbs and exhaust!!!
Later it's time to fit the engine. Here's NOT how to do it. Don't do this by yourself if you can help it becuase it's so much easier with two people and don't attempt this without an engine crane. Engines are heavy, this one is about 85Kg, and as I found out I don't make a very good engine crane.
I put two luggage straps round the engine, deadlifted it onto the crossmember, then got up onto the chassis rails and deadlifted it onto a trolley jack:
The it's a matter of wriggling it onto the splines on the gearbox shaft and sliding it into place. A hard job with no crane. I postitioned it close and I could feel it was on on the splines so I used a couple of long bolts in the back as guides while I shoved it on and used the bolts to nip it onto the dowels:
Then it's on with the head:
And finally it's in place and nearly everything back on:
I knocked it all on the head at 11:30pm on Sunday, didn't quite get it ready to fire up unfortunately. However there's always Monday night after work...
Did I mention IT RUNS!!!
Get in.
You'll be wanting some videos:
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/pop/videos/21-08-07_0806.3gp
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/pop/videos/21-08-07_0807.3gp
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/pop/videos/21-08-07_0810.3gp
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/pop/videos/21-08-07_0811.3gp
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/pop/videos/21-08-07_0814.3gp
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/pop/videos/21-08-07_0818.3gp
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/pop/videos/21-08-07_0832.3gp
Had it up to about 65 on the way into work this morning. It's exceeded my expectations and there's only more to come with the twin carbs and exhaust!!!
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With a new shell that would be a really tempting project. Fixing acres of rust is soul destroying. All you have to do is clean up some old parts and screw it back together, hey presto, solid new Sprite.
I was looking at getting an Austin A35 and using Sprite/Midget running gear but the Pop turned up instead. On the 1275 engine you can use a lot of Metro parts including the turbo head and manifolds, this was going to be my plan for that car and it would make a really lively little sportscar in a Sprite. You can also steal the bigger disc brakes off one of the bigger cars as well, but I forget which one it is.
With a bit of research there are loads of parts out there that swap on or go on with a bit of minor modification and it can really liven up the driving experience. If you don't get too serious with things (ie don't bite off more than you can chew) you won't lose direction in the project and you'll be having fun in no time
I was looking at getting an Austin A35 and using Sprite/Midget running gear but the Pop turned up instead. On the 1275 engine you can use a lot of Metro parts including the turbo head and manifolds, this was going to be my plan for that car and it would make a really lively little sportscar in a Sprite. You can also steal the bigger disc brakes off one of the bigger cars as well, but I forget which one it is.
With a bit of research there are loads of parts out there that swap on or go on with a bit of minor modification and it can really liven up the driving experience. If you don't get too serious with things (ie don't bite off more than you can chew) you won't lose direction in the project and you'll be having fun in no time